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Federal agencies are looking to technology startups in the private sector amid tight budgets, experts say. In lieu of direct support, government initiatives such as the Startup America Partnership and the Presidential Innovation Fellows program are working to expand opportunities for companies in industries such as health IT and the smart grid, which rank high on the Obama administration's priority list.

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Companies that provide third-party IT services are responding to market forces that have led to an increase in private sector demand, a decline in public-sector work and a strain on budgets as a surge in post-recessionary demand from the finance sector has waned, according to England-based employment firm Giant Group. "Overall, the picture has remained fairly positive for the contracting community," said Matthew Brown, managing director of Giant. "In an online business environment there will always be a need for specialist IT contractors in the support services sector, so it's perhaps unsurprising that this area has remained fairly stable."

A terror attack against the nation's power infrastructure could leave a number of states without power and cost hundreds of billions of dollars to repair, according to a U.S. government report that found multiple vulnerabilities across the energy grid. The study by the National Research Council was completed in 2007 and was only recently declassified. It blames the problem in part on the fragmented nature of the grid, which is more than 90% privately owned and regulated by individual states.

A bill to bolster the nation's cybersecurity has again failed to reach a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate. Republicans opposed the measure, which would have created voluntary standards for companies involved in critical industries, saying it represented a slippery slope to additional government regulation. Observers say the failure makes it more likely that President Barack Obama will act to strengthen cybersecurity through an executive order.

The House Committee on Science, Space and Technology is set to undergo a significant turnover, with 10 members retiring or losing their seat in the election. The committee will have a new leader, since Chairman Ralph Hall, R-Texas, faces term limits under House rules. The panel oversees policies for the Department of Energy's Office of Science, NASA and other science agencies.

The Office of Management and Budget has placed caps on conference spending by federal agencies, which has forced some science and technology associations, including IEEE, to restrict participation at conferences or even cancel some events, writes Chris Brantley, the managing director of IEEE-USA. Congress is considering bills that would further restrict conference spending. IEEE-USA has recommended that professional science and engineering conferences and other types of meetings be exempt from conference-spending limits, Brantley writes.